


The Bars

by oORasulOo



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien Planet, Aliens, Control Ending, Corruption, Dystopia, Far Future, Freedom Fighters, Future Fic, Gen, Gen Work, Insanity, Liberation, Major Original Character(s), Manipulation, New Planets, Non-Sexual Slavery, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, Outer Space, Slavery, Spaceships, Technology, it's not as bad as it seems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 23:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9630599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oORasulOo/pseuds/oORasulOo
Summary: There's bars on her arm. White bars, like a bar code. They're on everyone. They bring safety, comfort, the government knows this, so they made it a requirement to have them. They offered variety, what color? Sparkly or no? Do you want glow in the dark? Do you want a kind that softly glows through the skin? You'll die without the bars. The bars are you. They keep you from  sickness and desease, they are what make you prosper.But no. One girl knows the truth, it's definitely not that, and it's driving her mad.





	

 

“The Bars. The Bars the Bars the Bars the Bars.” A girl chanted to herself, seemingly terrified. People would look at her oddly as she continued the mantra. “The bars The Bars The Bars.”  No one would approach her, they think she’s insane. “The Bars The Bars…” Except the ones in the white coats. They’d try to approach her, but she’d scream no, and run off before continuing to say “The Bars.”

White. White is danger, she thinks to herself.  _ The Bars The Bars The Bars _ , she never forgets the bars. Always, those two words, thrumming in the back of her head to the beat of her heart.  _ the-dump, thu-dump, the-bars, the-bars…  _ **Never** forget the bars. Why can’t anyone else see them?

Light blue is bad, too. White and light blue, they want to take her away. They say they want to help, but they want only to poison her mind, make her forget… Forget the bars the bars… No, never. She’ll never forget the bars… The bars… the bars…  They’re so important, why can’t anyone else see? Everywhere, restricting, trapping, squeezing,  _ NO!  _ The bars the bars… The bars… everywhere and everywhen. Must escape.. Have to… Everyone, why can’t they see them, the bars?

White. More white. “No, leave me alone. You don’t understand, the bars. The bars are everywhere, can’t you see? Controlling, stopping, changing, the bars. You want me to forget, I refuse. I must escape the bars. You can too, please. They’re so obvious, can’t you see them?”

“The bars aren’t real, they’re a figment of your imagination, a hallucination, come with us and we’ll help. You aren't in your right mind, you’re emotionally distressed.”

“No, you’re not in your right mind. The bars, they've manipulated you. Freedom. Freedom is fake, the bars the controlling bars you have to understand pleaseunderstandyouhavetowehavetoescape” Her words began to run together, and she stopped to take a breath.

“The bars keep us safe.”

“See, the bars are real! Burn. Burn them have to burn them off. Burn them cut them break them THE BARS please we have to we must!” She begins to scratch at the white lines on her arm. 

“No stop, you don’t know what you’re doing! The bars are our blood, they keep us alive, if you break them you die!” The white-clothed person insists, rushing up to stop the girl. 

“No, stay away!” She doesn’t stop scratching, and soon blood is running down her arm. “Off off off off have to must please OFF save us save us please no don’t know ignorance everyone ignorance no one controlling Bars visions influence don't know them they government controlling bars…” She spouts off randomly. “Don’t you know? Why don’t you know? You should know. But you don’t. You don’t remember.” She says the last part forlornly

“THe bars. They make you forget, you’re letting yourself be controlled. You must see the reality, you must you must! The barsthebarsythebarsthebars they control you so easily the bars, your mind they control your movements your habits everything.” She gasps. “You are the bars once they attach themselves to you. The bars the bars…”

“Fight.. must fight keep fight can’t let bars control me bars..” She scratches more rigorously at her arm. Once she breaks a line of the bars her blood turns white. She pauses only for a second to look at the now white blood before doubling her effort.

“The bars they conceal your true self, the bars the bars they do don’t you see?  Control being controlled freedom lie don’t you know? How did we fall into this? The bars the bars…”

“Stop! Stop you must stop you're killing yourself!” The woman grabs her arm and pulls it away from her other bloodied one. She gets a radio out, “Code 8032 I repeat code 8032!”

“You’re one of them. Blind. everyone blind is everything one is blind everyone is blind no one- no one knows they’re blind perfect… perfect…. Perfect illusions, we’re living an illusion.” The girl insists. She yanks her arm away and continues to scratch, making sure to keep her distance on the woman. 

“Knife, burn. must. please. burn. Burn…” She enters a random person’s house, the white clothed woman following behind her. The girl grabs a toothless, long kitchen knife and turns on the stove. She begins heating the knife.

“Freedom. must.” She says, focusing entirely on heating the knife. There’s a soft dripping sound entirely ignored by the girl, the sound of her, now pink blood dripping onto the floor. Pink from the red and white blood mixing together.

“Illusion… must. Have to. It has to be an illusion.” She tells the woman  as she continues heating the knife. “Drained. Everyone, drained. Can’t you see it? Can’t you feel it? You feel drained. Everyone does. Drained empty drained and empty. Perfect, everyone thinks their life is perfect but they’re not happy, not really. The bars make them think they’re happy. The bars the bars the bars… They give you an illusion of choice.

“Now where do you want your bars? On your hand? Your forehead? Arm? Wrist? Foot? Rear? Back? Back of your neck? Do you want white or black, square or rectangle? Do you want our rare sparkle edition? For an extra fifty quid you can have our glow in the dark version.” They give you a present of poison, each vial will kill you. Do you want the blue poison or the green poison? We’ll let you choose.” 

“You can’t do this to yourself-” The girl cuts her off.

“Bars thoughts thoughts bars you voicing you are voicing the bars thoughts stop it stop it STOP IT!” She spins to face the white clad woman. “Controlling they are controlling you don’t let them control you the bars…” She spins back around and resumes her task of heating her knife, which is beginning to glow red with heat.

“You think I’m insane, I’m not I’m not! I’m the most sane one on this planet. I see the truth, the burning truth- NO not burning, the bars are trying to control me, the bars… Burn them burn them must…  The truth will set you free. The bars.. the bad evil bars… must escape them the bars.”

“Calm down, help is coming. You’ll feel better soon.” The woman tries to soothe after getting over the startle that the girl gave her. “I am Kenda.”

“No.” The girl rejects. “You are the bars. You’re one of them. The bars the bars… I can help you. You first, then me. Don’t worry, will help. Bars will go… bars.. bars. the bars.” The knife is red hot, and heat is radiating off of it now.

“You first then me, before too late.. too late… too late… NO! not too late, can help must will have to!” She dives for the woman, knife in hand, and rolls up her sleeve. The woman tries to pull back, startled and terrified, but the girl moves fast, cutting off the woman’s bars and searing the wound shut at the same time. The woman begins to scream, and she drops to the floor like someone cut her strings. The girl watches the woman patiently, as if expecting something.

Then it happened. The woman began to look staticky at the edges. She began to blur and become pixel-like. The woman began to vibrate violently and then she faded out of existence. “One helped.. can't help others, have to do it outside of bars.. bars… controlling concealing forgetting NO! can’t forget woman I helped. Off, bars, off!” She insists, and in one clean motion she cuts the bars off of her arm. The girl begins to scream. The pain, everywhere, the pain. She collapses, blacking out. She felt herself blurring out of existence.

Somewhere else. She’s somewhere else. The girl is laying on a soft bed, but it’s constricting, like the bars. She opens her eyes. There’s nodes on her head, and she’s strapped down. The girl struggles, and it takes a few minutes for her to get out of the straps. They’re old and worn, and she feels like she hasn’t moved in forever.

The girl takes the nodes off of her head, and an alarm begins to sound. The girl gets to her feet, stumbling and falling to her knees. She stands back up and begins to run. She glances down at her arm and sighs in relief. The bars are gone, and there’s no sign of a wound from where she cut it off. The bars aren’t constantly in the back of her mind, and she smiles. Free, but not completely. Still have to find the woman and help everyone else.

There. She spots her, awake and still struggling with her straps. Her appearance is pale and she looks confused and scared. “Kenda!” The girl calls to her. The woman’s eyes snap up to her. The girl rushes over and helps her out of the restraining straps, also helping to remove the nodes from her head.

“What’s going on?” Kenda asks.

“We were in a computer simulation. Our bodies were making energy that’s useable for the government to create a spaceship so they could escape Earth Death by the sun, and essentially leave all of us behind. Haha!” She laughs gleefully. “I remember! I remember it all!” She grins, before sobering. “Right, not the time, not the place. We need to help everyone else and get out of here.”

“Weren’t you insane?” Kenda asks.

“My mind was straining with the load they were putting on it, and rejecting the simulation they were feeding me. It was also trying to keep its energy. The bars are the link, remove the bars in that world and it’s broken, snapping the illusion and waking you up. Part of me remembered that. Why doesn't anyone else remember that? Because the simulation teaches you that removing it is death, and the bars give you happiness, when really they aren’t. Everyone in the simulation, all 9.7 billion people believes it.”

“Why are you any different?” She asks.

“I’m not entirely human. Didn’t you see how your blood stayed red, and mine turned white? That was reality bleeding into the illusion. Now I wish I could explain more, but we’re running out of time. People will be looking for us.” 

“At least tell me your name.” Kenda requests.

“Call me Ferlina, or Ferlin. Now come on, you need to stand up.” Ferlin helps Kenda get up, and then pulls her along, urging her until they’re both running down the hallways. Once they get to a corner Kenda blinks in shock. 

“They’re everywhere. All those people…” She says, her voice lowering in despair.

“Are going to die if we don’t move Now!” Ferlina pulls her into a run again, gripping her wrist tightly. She runs up a few flights of stairs, huffing and puffing by the third but still continuing on.

“This entire thing is a spaceship, but it’s slow and takes a lot of energy to run.  The government know they only have months until earth death, so they’re draining this ship and using all the people’s energy to run their own and escape, since they know they couldn’t charge both at once.”

“How many are in the government?”

“You don’t remember? Four. Four people value themselves more than 7.8 billion people. We need to get to the cockpit, reverse the energy flow and convert all the life energy they’re pulling so it’s fueling our engines instead. It’s a button or lever or code or something.. I’ll remember when I get there.” She continues to pull Kenda through various stairways and hallways and rooms until finally they enter a room looking like a cockpit.

People in pale blue suits are standing in their way, with lazer guns aimed at them.

“Now, you can be good and go back to your conversion ports where a team will hook you back up, or you can be disintegrated where you stand. Your choice.” One of the men say.

“Is there really a difference?” Farlin points out. “You’re telling us, die now or in four months, and live a lie during those four months.  Now I don’t know about you, but I think it would be nicer for all of us if we survived. All except for four, anyway. Don’t you know you’re going to die in four months, too? They aren’t taking you with them. I know you don’t like to hear it but the truth is a blunt instrument.” The men had gotten considerably angrier at her as she continued to speak.

“That’s a lie. They have shown us our spots in their ship multiple times. Our seats, our rooms, everything.”

“Why lie if you aren’t going to make it convincing, yeah? They’re obviously very good at it if they’ve convinced 7.8 billion people that they’re actually living in reality and not hooked up to a supercomputer which is feeding them paradise while slowly draining their life away. Even if the sun doesn’t kill them, that program will. Not that you care, though, do you?” She continues to procrastinate as she slowly inches herself towards a button in the wall.

“Of course, you can guess where they’ve gotten their inspiration for it. Doctor Who, the classics. Which Doctor was it, Ten? And Rose was with him, wasn’t she? Or was it Donna? Either way, the parasites were doing almost the same thing that this program is doing. Though it may have been a big coincidence, come to think about it.”

“Shut up.” One of them order her.

Farlin doesn’t, but asks a question. “How many have died? Mostly babies and children, right? They have less energy, and are drained more easily. How many? A billion? Two?” 

“If you don’t shut up and come with us, we’re going to kill you right here and right now.” one of the men in blue threaten her.

“Well, that’s pretty hard, saying,” Farlin presses the green and yellow button on the wall, “Your guns are no longer charged and now need a code to manually turn it back on, which only the government has access to.” Multiple curses come from the men, and one throws down his laser gun in anger. Farlin moves over to the pilot’s seat and presses another button, before pressing a series of buttons and typing in a few codes. She looks at scanners and turns a wheel. Soon a soft hum is heard, and the starship begins to vibrate.

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” One of them insist.

“I know exactly what I’m doing. No thanks to you gullibles trying to stop me. Now, Kenda, if you’ll take the pilot's seat..”

“What? I don’t know how to fly!” Kenda exclaims in surprise and incredulity. 

“That’s ridiculous. Of course you know how to fly, You’re the pilot of this ship. You just need to remember and believe in yourself, now come here. We don’t have forever and we need to get this ship off the ground.”

“You are still insane, aren’t you?” Kenda says matter of factly.

“No, I’m not, I just remember. You’re taking a bit longer, but I’m sure it’ll come back to you if you just sit down right here. No harm in sitting down in a chair, is there?”

“No harm in sitting in a chair… NO harm in sitting in a chair. This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy, you know that?” Kenda asks as she makes her way to the pilot’s chair. The five people in suits look like they’re about to try something, so Farlin holds up a button in her hand.

“Try anything and I’ll blow the whole joint with you in it, that’s not what you want, is it?” She asks, glancing at them with a confidence in her eyes. The men back off, but continue to glare at her. “Have a seat, Kenda.” Kenda sits down and her eyes widen in shock.

“You’re right.. I remember. How do you know all this stuff?” She asks, spaced out as information comes rushing back to her.

“There used to be five people in the government. I left after finding out what they were doing. I was their Equilibri, the one who kept equilibrium when there was an argument, an improviser, I was the one who brought the fresh ideas in. I had a large influence in the government, but I didn’t rule, that was the job of the other four. They kicked me out and hooked me up to die slowly, but they would have just killed me had they not known I wasn’t entirely human. Only humans are truly compatible.” Farlin explains. “That’s how I know all of this stuff.”

Nodding, Kendra’s arms begin flying over the buttons and controls. “It’s really hot out there.” She comments as she looks at the readings of the surrounding atmosphere. “Understandable, since the sun’s about to blow into a red giant. Warp will get us far away from here by the time that happens, though. I just need to get her off the ground.” Kendra’s voice trails off as she continues to work.

“This ship doesn’t have warp.” Farlin comments. 

“I sent a message to a workforce team. They’re working on it right now. We should have it in the next fifteen minutes.”

“Good for you, Kenda!” Farlin says, grinning. “Where will they get it, though?”

“Two of them are being salvaged from the government’s ship, and two more were found in a junkyard still in working condition. The last two were broken, but are now repaired. We have a total of six, plenty enough to warp space time and zip us to safety.”

“Brilliant. Now, as for you five…” Farlin touches her ear, activating a microscopic comn in the fold of her earlobe, and speaks. “207, I repeat, 207. We’ve got five intruders that need arrested in the cockpit.” It only takes three minutes for black and blue clad guards to come in and place them in energy cuffs.

They’re like handcuffs, but the entire hand and forearm are encased in an energy barrier which has a weak link to the mind. If any thoughts of foul behavior are detected, a light shock is sent to the person’s hands, and the energy restricts so movement in the hands and lower arms is restricted until the bad motives go away. 

The five are led away to holding cells on the bottom floor. Farlin turns to face Kenda. “There. The whole button thing was a bluff, by the way. This is a fidget toy.” At that, Kenda laughs. 

“A fidget toy! That’s great.” Her laugh dies down. “You mentioned being not entirely human, what do you mean?”

Farlin closes her eyes and sighs. She pinches the bridge of her nose and turns away, facing a wall as she gathers her thoughts and tries to figure out how to word this.

“I’m an alien, Shekomian. I look human biologically, except for my mind and abilities. The reason we Iook human is because we are what you humans call shape-shifters, shape-changers, or whatever other names you have. We’re also excellent telepaths.”

“Wait, so you’ve been in my mind?!” Kenda’s pitch spikes towards the end, and Farlin winces

“No! no no, we never enter someone’s mind without permission. That’d be terrible. Horrible. Wrong. Dirty. You humans don’t have a word good enough for how… terrible that would be. Anyone who Shai’fler, or enters someone’s mind without permission, can be punished with a slow, excruciating death. Worse than death by fire. Much worse. It’s said that anyone who is punished in this way never truly dies, but lives a life of eternal suffering.”

“That’s pretty harsh, but a relief, too.” Kenda says. “So when you shapeshift, how does that work?”

“You’re not in any way scared of me?” Farlin asks.

“No, not reall- well… okay a little bit.” Farlin grins emotionlessly.

“It’s alright. A normal response for a previously partially xenophobic race. But you’re curious, too, that’s good. It’s complicated to understand, but basically we have three ways we can take on the form of another being. By sight, but this only works for visible exterior features, by touch, which allows special glands in our skin to copy the DNA and shapeshift that way, which is the best way to do it, and by memory.

Any creature we’ve taken the form of before, we can take the form of again. Sometimes the change of form is voluntary, but if we feel very threatened or angry we involuntarily take the form of the most terrifying creature we’ve come across. Unless you have superb self control, that is, and most are taught self control in this way so they can keep form no matter what.

“can you get stuck in a form?” Kenda asks curiously.

“Yes, you can. If you’re born with the chronic disorder Stuvethai Shurtnk, depending on how serious it is we could get stuck in a form forever at any point in time and never know what we’re going to get stuck in. Horrible disorder, that.”

“Can you take on the abilities of the creature you’re mimicking?” She continues to question Ferlin.

“Sometimes. It gets tricky there. Sometimes we can take the memory of the dead, but that’s only up to fifteen seconds after death, only if the person is willing, and that’s a mostly telepathic thing. If they’re unwilling they’ll shield their minds before they die, see. But as for taking the abilities, it really depends on how skilled the shifter is and the type of creature they’re trying to mimic.”

“Can you do it?” 

“Sometimes.” Farlin answers.

“Can you shapeshift right now, into something from memory?” Kenda asks.

“Yes, I can.” 

“Will you? for me, please?” Kenda begs her. Farlin chuckles.

“Alright. Give me a moment.” Farlin says. She closes her eyes, and a blue-purple-silver glow softly emits from her skin. The glow turns opaque, and then fades, revealing a copy of Kenda herself. Kenda’s eyes widen.

“That is just weird.” Kenda says as she slowly approaches Farlin, her double. She reaches up, but pauses, as if asking permission. Farlin nods slightly, and Kenda traces her jawline and softly runs her hand over Farlin’s cheek, eyes filled with wonder.

“Wow.” She says, not knowing what else to say.

“Neat, isn’t it?” Farlin asks with a soft grin, her voice the exact replica of Kenda’s.

“Is this what it’s like to have a twin?” She wonders out loud.

“I wouldn’t know.” Farlin replies, amused.

“What was that glow that came from your skin?” Kenda asks.

“It’s hard to explain. Any other questions?” Farlin glances at her watch.

“Tons.” Kenda states simply.

“Well, It’ll have to wait. The fifteen minutes are up and at any moment now they will message you-” A voice from an unseen speaker fills the room.

“We’re done with the installation and ready for takeoff.”

“See?” Farlin says after it’s finished. While Kenda had been distracted she had changed back to her previous form. Taking the hint, Kenda straps herself into the seat and starts to activate the hover spheres.

“Ready for takeoff, but what about the government?”

“They have their ship and we have ours and earth’s population of humans.” Farlin answers. Kenda nods and activates them. The ship creaks a bit as it rises off the ground, but then the creaking stops and the vibration becomes a bit more noticeable as the ship rises further into the air.

“Stabilising forward momentum. Breaking sound barrier in 3...2...1…” There’s a loud boom as the starship goes faster than the speed of sound, and continues to gain. “Reaching escape velocity… Now!” The ship leaves Earth behind.

“What is our destination, Captain?” Kenda asks.

“Destination coordinates 96000-468-2224, Plexus 98K. It’s the best place for human habitation at this point in time.” Farlin answers, taking on a more professional air.

“Setting coordinates. Okay, activating shields and warp.” The instant warp is activated, a slight pull is felt in the entire ship and Farlin almost takes a step back from it.

“We are now in warp.”

“Good. Activate the automatic release. Set the human population free. I’ll tell them what’s going on over intercom.

“I almost forgot about them.” Kenda admits, and she presses two buttons simultaneously as she pulls a lever.

Farlin activates her comn, tapping it twice for universal transmission. “Hello, Earthlings. Time to wake up. You guys are really behind on what’s been going on, you see…” She continues her speech on how the government was going to leave them behind and was using them for energy, and how they’re going to another planet, and what to expect when they get there, as well as answering any other questions one might come up with.

~*~

The starship lands on Plexus 98K, also known as New Earth, as named by all the humans on the ship by diplomatic vote. Everyone, all 7.8 billion people, lead by Farlin herself file out of the ship and feast their eyes on their new home. The atmosphere, and everything else, is extremely similar to Earth. There’s three mega continents, and this planet is 0.2% larger than Earth. It has magnetic poles, a similar tilt, everything, except it has two moons instead of one. 

One moon is named Luna and the other is named, simply, Moon, since it looks similar to earth’s moon. Plants grow here. Tons of species were brought along on the starship, from dogs to kangaroos. They’ll be kept on the ship until the planet is found appropriate for their survival. 

The humans spread out to explore, staying within sight of the ship, and they take in the faciniation. They’re free. They are free. No more bars to lock them in. They have learned their lesson. They’ll never let anyone take their freedom again, and never will they be so gullible.

They go on to create an empire, not being confined to just one planet. The Human race exploring all there is to see, in The Milky Way, and any other galaxies they can reach. Freedom, and exploration. Wonder, and pure happiness.


End file.
